"Ah! your service is fatiguing, is it not?"
"What service?"
"That which you perform near the king. Are you not some kind of guard to his majesty?"
"I form part of a body of gentlemen, madame."
"That is what I mean. They are all Gascons, are they not?"
"Yes, madame."
"How many are there? I forget."
"Forty-five."
"What a singular number!"
"I believe it was chance."